Caregiver Tattooes Kids While Mom, Boyfriend Are Out: Cops

(Newser) - Three Virginia adults are facing charges after two girls were tattooed while under the care of a family friend, the Roanoke Times reports.

Chuntera Napier and her son Gaquan show off the tattoos. Would you let your 10-year-old get one?

The girl's mother, 35-year-old Melissa Delp, and her boyfriend, 32-year-old Daniel Janney, were charged Friday with two counts each of felony child abuse and malicious wounding. One of the girls-both are under 13-told police that Janney had tried burning off the tattoos after the couple came home and discovered the fresh ink, ABC 13 reports.

"There was an effort to cover these tattoos up," said a sheriffs' department officer. "It didn't help the situation any. It added more scarring." The friend taking care of the girls, Alexander Edwards, 20, is facing two counts each of felony child abuse, abduction, and malicious wounding.

A tattoo-removal artist in Kutztown, Penn., has offered to remove the ink for free. "It breaks my heart to know they have gone through something like that," he said. "I can't imagine what it's like." There's no age requirement for getting a tattoo in Virginia, ABC 13 notes, but parental consent is needed for anyone under 18.